Nikki

“He looked at her as a man looks at a faded flower he has gathered, with difficulty recognizing in it the beauty for which he picked and ruined it. And in spite of this he felt that then, when his love was stronger, he could, if he had greatly wished it, have torn that love out of his heart; but now when as at that moment it seemed to him he felt no love for her, he knew that what bound him to her could not be broken.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“But that's the whole aim of civilization: to make everything a source of enjoyment.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“there are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to be sad among others, and those who prefer to be sad alone.”
― Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

“To educate the peasantry, three things are needed: schools, schools and schools.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina